This and that, and a lot more!

Month: March 2016

For some people who are taking the IELTS exam, the report writing section is the most difficult, for others the easiest. It all comes down to how well you can understand graphs and numbers and what they tell you about the overall trend explored in the graph. To do this you need to understand the […]

First of all, I’m a big fan of teaching vocabulary chunks so when I’m teaching a course, I make it a point to teach certain groups of vocabulary together and to explore how to teach them to my students so they actually stick. For me recycling is the key so lately I’ve been using Cram.com in class and for out-of-class practice for my students. You can create digital flashcards in groups and on the page you can even share your flashcards so others can…

You have 4 essays to write and look up at the clock to see half the time is gone and you’ve only written half of 1. What do you do now?! We share the secrets to ensuring this never happens to you again – as well as what to do if it does, anyway.

Everyone who’s studied English knows “She sells seashells“. It’s the simple yet challenging tongue twister that practises that difference between the “sh” sound and the “s” sound. In the attached Power Point, I’ve created a short activity for this classic. Use it before a speaking activity, as a warmer or filler, or just to get […]

Word family activities introduce students to predictable word patterns. I often use rhyming activities with my emergent readers to develop pertinent decoding skills. Learning these “chunks” of words make pronouncing and decoding complex words significantly easier. Every week, I introduce a new word family to my kindergarteners. During the activity, I have the students make a […]

The winds of change are beginning to blow, and they are pushing my ship Eastward. Long have I bemoaned the atrocious realities of freelance writing, but living in Montreal means that I’m stuck doing it since it’s impossible to find a job out here without perfect bilingual fluency. I’ve stuck with it about as long […]

As a senior English teacher I have the distinction of being the last of a long acquaintance with school literature for my students. Many, if not most students, come in with a surly attitude about English. My goal is to get that frown turned upside down. While I don’t resort to extremes, I have been […]